Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA) Trademarks “Model E”: New Car On The Way?

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has trademarked the name “Model E” in a move that may relate to the firm’s planned mass market vehicle. Venturebeat’s Antony Ingram caught the trade mark request on Monday, though he thinks the name might be used for a sports car also promised by the company.

The mass auto market is where analysts want Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) to go, and CEO Elon Musk sees that as clearly anyone. It is his dream to see electric vehicles become a force in the American car market, and his is the only company that anyone is betting on to bring that vision to reality. People buying the stock for close to $150 per share today are looking for the same thing.

Tesla Gen 3 on the way

Tesla is not expected to deliver its mass market vehicle any time soon, however. Musk has said that people shouldn’t expect the vehicle to pop up before 2016. Tesla has faced scaling problems on the production side several times, most notably with delays in its release of the Model X SUV. Many investors are skeptical of the company’s ability to build cars en masse in three short years.

There are other options for the Model E, however. Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) hasn’t really been around long enough to establish hard naming conventions, but the Model X and the Model S are both based on the same power train. Perhaps the Model E is another vehicle planned to use the same technology. The third generation vehicle is almost certainly going to use a lot of different parts.

Tesla Sports car

Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has said that it expects to have as many as five different models of car under its belt in 2016. The company is expected to have two sedans, an SUV and the third generation vehicle on or approaching the market by then along with, perhaps most interestingly, a sports car follow up to its original offering, the Roadster.

If Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) does decide to build a sports car on top of the Model S frame it could be a winner for the company. Like the Model X, it allows for slower scaling into different markets, and it allows the company to experiment with production, design and engineering. The trademarking of the Model E name isn’t very much to go on. The firm may just be taking it in case someone else grabs it first.